Hello there!
Every year, we celebrate our birthdays in another city (preferably one we haven’t visited before). We celebrated my girlfriend’s birthday last Friday and decided to go on a short trip for the weekend.
Mysore, India is a city in the southern part of India and was on @foodiechique ‘s radar for quite some time. I began working on my itinerary a week in advance, which was then awarded the ‘Best Itinerary till Date’ by my girlfriend. 😂
Once we stepped foot in the city, we wasted no time and headed to the first stop which is the Mysore Palace. I’ve already posted this bit here, do have a check!
Once we were done with the palace, we visited a beautiful cathedral built in a Neo Gothic style of architecture.
St. Philomena's Cathedral
Built in 1936, this cathedral design was heavily influenced by the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. The church was initially built as a small wooden chapel in 1843 to serve the British officers stationed at Mysore and later in 1936, the foundations were laid by the Wadiyar ruler with the help of the British East India Company.
The church was designed by a Frenchman named Daly and the floor plan of the church resembles a cross! Since the skies were in our favor, I got pictures of the church along with my birthday girl.
Once we appreciated the intricate details of the church on the outside, we decided to head inside for some prayerful silence. However, you do need to take of your footwear before entering the Cathedral.
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Inside the church was simple yet elegant. The tall ceilings, stained glasses and the beautiful arches made it come alive. Even though the temperature outside was almost 35 degrees Celsius, it was cool inside the church due to the high ceilings and the stones used to build the church that kept the heat away.
The church had a catacomb built underneath the altar to replicate the final resting place of St. Philomena.(I refrained myself from clicking any further images since it was a sacred place of worship).
As we made an exit from the church, our stomachs began to growl, and we headed to a café to get a late lunch. We had heard wonderful things about it and wished to visit since a year now.
SAPA Sourdough & Pastry
Located in the heart of Mysore city, this beautiful café is run by a German woman-Dina Weber, who came to India after mastering the art of sourdough. She moved to Mysore after working in multiple parts of India such as Goa and Manali. Now settled in Mysore, she opened this café in 2020 as a micro bakery serving only sourdough and breads and then expanded over the period to make it a beautiful restaurant that is based in a heritage home.
The restaurant has been featured in ‘India’s top 50 restaurants’ in 2024. Once we tasted the food and desserts, we knew why!
One look at the place will tell you that Dina has an eye for design because she has done up the place by integrating structural elements of the architecture into her choice of décor. Between the arched windows and mirrors and the vibrant white nestled in a lush green space, this place truly stands out. The restaurant has an outdoor and an indoor seating. We got here in the late afternoon and knew we would be here for a while, and it would get dark by then. So, we opted to sit inside.
We ordered the Goat Cheese Chilli Bhajji as an appetizer. Bhajji basically is a fritter and the filling can vary. In this case, it was a chilli stuffed with seasoned cheese, coated with gram flour and deep fried to achieve that crisp texture.
The first bite was heavenly! The melted gooey cheese was complimented the spice from the chillies. Served with some Sweet Chilli Sauce, everything together was a symphony of flavors!
We next ordered our main courses, and one was already waiting for us (thanks to their fast service). The Pulled Pork sandwich was a thing of beauty, and oh man, the portion sizes are huge.
The slow-cooked pulled pork was so tender, it was melt-in-your-mouth. It was served in a ciabatta bread (freshly baked in-house) and served with hand cut fries with some spicy garlic aioli sauce. While the pork could use a bit more seasoning, overall, still delicious!
The next main was not on our list of things to try but we gave it a shot since it was a fusion dish. We ordered Chorizo and Prawn Stew, merely as an experiment, since seafood with meat are not a very popular combination around here. To our surprise, this dish was the start of the show! Since the stew was brought to the table, it smelled divine. It came with a side of brioche loaves to soak up all the spicy goodness. The creaminess of the stew came from being slow cooked in coconut milk, the chunks of chorizo gave it a wonderful tang and the toasted sesame seeds on top gave the mouthful a very welcome crunch. We got so full that we had to stop and pack this up, which we later gobbled as a midnight snack. We assumed that the cold dish would not taste as good but again to our surprise, it tasted even better!!
While our stomach was full, there is always some space for desserts. We went to the counter to check out the desserts display.
We had limited options to choose from, and we picked the Mocha Bombolone and a Strawberry Mousse cake on the recommendation of one of the servers.
The Mocha Bombolone was a classic, generously filled with mocha cream and then coated with castor sugar. Although this was yum, it did get a bit too sweet after a couple of bites.
And then came another star - the Strawberry Mousse Cake. I do not think I have had anything like this. Berry desserts are usually risky to order because they tend to taste syrupy (not sure if I’m the only one haha). But this? This was textural heaven. So many different textures in each layer of the cake but re-enforcing the flavor of strawberry. This ones for the history books, folks. It’s that good.
With our stomachs and hearts full, we then planned to ride to the Chamundi Hills for a night view of the beautiful heritage city.
Chamundi Hill
Located 13 km (8 miles) east of Mysore city, the name of the hill comes from the historic 12th century temple based on the top of the hill, Chamundeshwari temple.
We had no plans to enter the temple, but I knew the view from the top of the hill during the night would be beautiful, hence the itinerary was designed to reach the top once the sun was set. The winding roads and the cool breeze made for a very pleasant ride, although it was not as well-lit and could feel spooky occasionally.
We stopped at a place that had a small viewing deck with a few vendors that had set up stalls for light snacks (corn on the cob, juices, etc).
The skies were clear so we could see the city lights till the end of the horizon. There wasn’t much of a crowd at the viewpoint, probably because we did not go all the way to the top but went to the deck half a kilometer below. There was continuous mild lightening which was spectacular to watch. The pictures truly do no justice to the feeling of being there. Immense serenity and a great way to wind down a birthday, in my opinion.
After spending some time up there taking in all the fresh air and the beauty of the night sky, we called it a day and went back to our hotel for some well-deserved rest. Although birthday girl chose to watch TV till midnight in her pajamas, she seemed truly content and that made my day.
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